Eddie Johnson, 37, of the 2000 block of Bonaffon Street in Philadelphia, Alfred Kulah, 35, and Mortimah Kesselly, 41, both of the 500 block of Long Lane in Upper Darby, stand accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl off the street in Southwest Philadelphia and repeatedly raping her in the Long Lane apartment from Sept. 28-30, 2012.

The girl, now 17, testified last week that Johnson and Kulah grabbed her and put her in a car driven by Kesselly. The three then took turns having sex with her over the next three days, she said.

During her captivity, the girl said Kesselly took her through a McDonald’s drive-thru at 69th Street and then to his friend’s house for a shower before bringing her back to the apartment, where he and the other men continued to rape her.

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On the morning of Sept. 30, the alleged victim said she was finally left alone in the apartment. She said she grabbed her phone, keys and cash that had been in her jeans off a dresser before running out the door and calling her father. The girl said she had not seen her phone or jeans since Kesselly removed them the night of her alleged abduction and that she was wearing basketball shorts provided by her assailants.

The girl testified that she was walking home from a friend’s house where she had been smoking marijuana when she was taken.

Defense attorney Karen Friel, representing Kulah, noted the girl’s father had testified that she would have been grounded if she had come home smelling of marijuana and that the punishment for her being gone with no contact for 33 hours would have been “severe.”

Friel also pointed out that her client was staying in the Long Lane apartment to recover from recent surgery associated with end-stage renal failure. He would have been too weak to move, let alone wrestle a struggling victim into a car and then rape her over the next three days, said Friel.

But Assistant District Attorney Christopher Boggs noted DNA analysis of swabs taken from the shorts, and the girl’s perianal area, thigh and groin tested positive for Kulah’s DNA. Kulah had also claimed in a statement to police that he was released from the hospital at about 8 p.m. Sept. 29, when he had in fact been released two days earlier, said Boggs.

Upper Darby Detective Brad Ross said Johnson told him that he picked up a girl alone on the night of Sept. 28 and brought her willingly to the Long Lane apartment, where he slept with her that night.

Ross also interviewed Kesselly, who claimed a friend had brought a girl to his apartment between midnight and 1 a.m. Sept. 29 and asked to use his room. After moving to the couch, he said the other person – who was not identified for the jury – later woke him up and told him he was leaving. The other man left the girl behind, according to Kesselly, who was represented by attorney Frank Zarrilli.

Though he tried repeatedly to take her somewhere else, Kesselly told Ross she would cry and say she had nowhere else to go, according to the statement. Kesselly also admitted to sleeping with the girl after she had a shower, but said the shower took place at his residence.

Alex Giribaldi, representing Johnson, pointed to a time sheet that indicated his client was working in King of Prussia until 11 p.m. Sept. 29 – the same time the girl claimed she was being kidnapped. Boggs noted someone else could have clocked Johnson out.

But while swabs taken from the shorts and the girl’s thigh and groin area matched Kesselly’s DNA, Giribaldi stressed Johnson’s DNA could not be found.

Kulah’s cousin, Jaryan Kutuakoi, also testified that he saw the girl twice in the apartment and said she appeared to be making herself at home. The first time, he said she walked out of Kesselly’s room to get some juice from a refrigerator then returned to the bedroom. Kutuakoi said he also passed her on the stairs alone as he was headed down and she was heading up with a McDonald’s bag. Kesselly was outside parking the car, he said.

Sekou Mamoud also said the alleged victim did not appear to be in any distress when Kesselly brought her over for a shower, and that she entered and exited his home of her own free will. Mamoud, a former police officer in Liberia, said he gave the girl a laptop to use while he and Kesselly watched soccer.

All three defense attorneys argued that an abducted person would have tried to get away while outside of the apartment, which the girl apparently made no attempt to do.

Boggs said the alleged victim clearly articulated that she was simply trying to get through the ordeal alive and not upset her captors. He also argued that it made no sense for the girl to want to hang out with older men to get high or drunk when she could have simply stayed at her friend’s house. He noted no alcohol or drugs were found in the Long Lane apartment.

The alleged victim also had no axe to grind with these men, said Boggs. To make up a story like this and to stick with it for a year and a half would take a massive effort and deserve an Oscar, he said.

About the Author

Alex Rose covers court proceedings for the Daily Times. He also writes a weekly science column. Reach the author at arose@delcotimes.com
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